Place kale in a large bowl. Add half the apple to kale along with celery, 1/4 cup walnuts and 1/4 cup raisins. Put remaining apple in a blender along with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts, remaining 2 tablespoons raisins, mustard, water, vinegar and salt. Purée until well combined and slightly thick, adding water if needed to thin. Pour dressing over kale salad and toss to combine.

• Wipe rim with clean cloth and place warmed seal on top followed by rim.

• Place back in hot water bather and once all jars are in as quickly as possible, process for 15 minutes.

You can tell which jars are ready by the colour of the pickles—they change from a vibrant, summer green to a duller brown/green. Leave them in too long and they turn out soggy. But, they’ll taste better than any store bought because you made them yourself! It can take a few years of trial and error to perfect your own recipe.

RAMBUNCTIOUS RHUBARB PUDDING CAKE

Ingredients

2 cups chopped rhubarb

1 3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons soft butter

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup sifted flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2/3 cup boiling water

Directions

Cover the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch square glass baking dish with fruit.

Mix 3/4 cup sugar, butter, baking powder, salt, extracts, milk and flour together (add a little more milk if it is too thick to pour); pour over fruit. Mix remaining sugar and cornstarch; sprinkle over mixture in pan. Pour boiling water over the top—sounds strange, but it works to create a pudding around the rhubarb in the bottom of the pan.

Cube baguette slices into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in a shallow bowl and add one tablespoon olive oil. Stir to coat. Place baguette cubes on a baking pan and cook at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to create crispy croutons. Set aside when ready.

In a blender, add remaining olive oil with juice of lemon, anchovies, garlic, dijon mustard and worcestershire sauce. Blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside until ready for salad to be served.
DO NOT ADD CROUTONS OR DRESSING UNTIL SALAD IS READY FOR SERVING.

When ready to serve, give salad dressing one quick buzz in the blender. Pour over salad and toss to coat evenly. Add croutons and serve.

Instructions

Separate the eggs: Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another (I recommend the 3-Bowl Method for this step). Cover the whites and refrigerate until needed (or freeze if aging the eggnog for longer than a day).

Whisk the yolks with the sugar: Combine the yolks and the sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk by hand, or with a mixer, until the mixture is smooth and creamy, and it has lightened to a lemon-yellow color.

Whisk in the milk, cream, and liquor (if using): Pour the milk, cream, and liquor into the bowl with the egg mixture and whisk until combined.

Cover and refrigerate: Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The more liquor you add, the longer it will keep — non-alcoholic eggnog should be consumed within a day; eggnog with 1/2 to 1 cup of liquor will keep for several days; and eggnog with 1 1/2 cups of liquor will keep for several weeks and continue aging and thickening quite nicely. (If aging for longer than a few days, transfer the eggnog to a sealed glass container or a mason jar.)

Whisk the egg whites: Just before serving, whisk the reserved egg whites in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer at high speed until the whites form stiff peaks.

Fold the egg whites into the eggnog: Transfer the beaten egg whites to the bowl with the eggnog and gently fold or stir the whites into the base — this gives the eggnog a frothy, extra-creamy texture. Some of the egg whites will also float to the top, like cappuccino foam.

Serve the eggnog: Transfer the eggnog to a pitcher or punch bowl. Serve in individual glasses with a grating of nutmeg over top.

Recipe Notes

Contains Raw Eggs: This recipe contains raw eggs. Use very fresh, organic eggs if at all possible. Consuming raw or undercooked eggs can increase your risk for certain food-borne illnesses, especially if you have a medical condition.

Cooked Eggnog: If you’d prefer to cook your eggnog, follow these instructions. Warm the milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat until just starting to bubble around the edges. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks together in a separate bowl. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the eggs, then return the mixture to medium heat and continue to cook, stirring gently, until thickened to your eggnog-y liking. Serve immediately or chill for up to 3 days before serving. For extra thickness, whip 1 cup of whipping cream and fold into the eggnog before serving.

Even Richer Eggnog: Feel free to play with the proportions of whole milk to cream, keeping 3 cups total dairy. Heavy cream will make your eggnog thicker and creamier. Boozy eggnog will also continue to thicken in the fridge as it ages.

Line a spring form pan with parchment paper. Prepare crust – place nuts, dates, butter and salt in a food processor fitted with an “S” blade. Blend until mix sticks together and nuts are finely chopped (but not to a paste). Press nut mix into the bottom of the pan until evenly spread across the whole bottom. Bake at 325 F for 10 minutes, then cool.

Filling: In a saucepan combine pumpkin puree, sugar and spice. Heat over medium heat while stirring for a few minutes, until sugar is melted and the pumpkin turns dark and glossy. Scoop puree mix into a blender, add yogurt and cream and blend on high until smooth. Add 4 eggs and salt and blend until just incorporated, don’t over blend the eggs.

Pour filling into cooled crust and bake at 375 F for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 F and cook for an additional 20 – 40 minutes. Cake is done when the center doesn’t jiggle. Let it cool completely at room temperature, and refrigerate for a couple hours before serving, for best results.

*Yogurt Cheese – take any regular plain yogurt, pour it into a strainer lined with cheese cloth or a threadbare piece of sheet, then tie the ends of the cloth and hang the yogurt over a bowl for several hours or overnight. Poof! Yogurt cheese and in the bowl, yogurt whey (awesome for soaking oats, grains, flour, or starting ferments).

• Chop all veggies into bite size pieces. In a large baking pan or dish add veggies and mix together. Add garlic and rosemary broken down into small bits.
• Drizzle olive oil, tamari/soy sauce and worcestershire over veggies. Top with fresh ground pepper. Mix together so all veggies are coated.
• Cover baking pan/dish with foil.

Bake in oven for 70 – 90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, but be sure to remove foil halfway through baking.

1. In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, green pepper, onions, cucumber, vinegar, garlic, tomato juice, olive oil, and bread. Put the mixture in batches in a blender and blend on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until very smooth. Strain through a coarse strainer. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar as needed. Chill.

2. Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet. Add the crushed garlic and cook until the garlic is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove garlic and discard. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat. Sauté slowly, stirring occasionally, for 20 – 30 minutes, until the bread cubes are golden. Cool.

EARLY SPRING SALAD

With arugula, radishes, spinach and peas first to emerge, nothing says spring like a fresh salad right out of a young garden. We’ve got just the right recipe to quench your taste buds!

INGREDIENTS

arugula

spinach

claytonia (miner’s lettuce), or any other early greens that are ready to go!

Chives ~ 2 TBSP

Salt, pepper

olive oil ~ 2 TBSP

lemon juice ~ 1/2 lemon

Spring greens are so delicate and full of flavor! It’s important to create a dressing that lets the flavor of the greens shine through!

Wash and dry greens (approx 1 pound), place in a large bowl. Add chives and season with salt and pepper; drizzle over about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss well to coat. Squeeze lemon juice over the greens and toss again. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately
Salad doesn’t have to be complicated!

Enjoy!

STINGING NETTLES & ALL THE POTENTIAL OF THE GOOD GREEN EARTH

Our Seasonally Renewed Love Affair

By Kirsten Vidulich

It’s time to be reminded that all we need is often right under our feet. There’s no better example of a plant whose strong and vital life force demands our attention then Urtica Docia, the unwieldy, irrepressible Stinging Nettle.

Stinging Nettles prick up their leaves in early spring, and we’re seeing them in strong and vibrant populations now and will continue to be enticed by them until early May. We harvest the nettle’s leaf, particularly the bright green to purple tinged topmost cluster. They find their way to the most fertile grounds, so it’s important to know what’s been growing in the vicinity, as they typically can thrive around septic systems, outhouses, barnyards etc. Leaves contain hollow stinging hairs that inject skin with histamines and other chemicals causing an irritation. There are those who like the challenge of harvesting bare handed but it’s recommended to wear gloves and pinch or cut the clusters.

Nettles are a nutritive tonic and can be consumed daily and treated as food that is your medicine. They’re most typically blanched lightly to wilt the stinging hairs, so steaming or immersion into boiling water for a few minutes prior to eating is recommended, or adding them to soup or stew in the last moments of cooking. They can also be incorporated into a green juice blend or blended into pesto and vinaigrettes.

Nettles are incredibly full of vitamins, rich in iron, calcium, zinc, potassium and magnesium, to name but a few. They have a concentration of chlorophyll, assiting with the rejuvenating energy of spring after a sedentary winter. Nettles activate metabolism by toning and strengthening the entire system, supporting healthy kidney function and gently assisting the liver with its vital elimination. Their deeply nourishing quality works wonders on the reproductive system, easing PMS and cramps and balancing hormones during menopause. They’ve been listed as a key remedy for hay fever and numerous allergies, and can ease the irritated mucus membranes during an acute allergic reaction.

To make:
Wash and sort all greens,
If Using Nettles steam lightly prior to incorporating into the filling.
Heat the olive oil in a pan, on low and cook onions and leeks until soft and onions become translucent 8-10 min, splash with vinegar. Remove from heat and incorporate the greens to the onion leek mix, add egg and oregano.
Gently fold in the ricotta.
Season with salt and pepper- cover and refrigerate.

While the filling is cooling preheat the oven to 350 and unroll the filo pastry from it’s package .

Place a piece of parchment on a baking dish or pizza tray.
This is a free form pie that follows the same shaping as a Galette tart, but if it is easier you can use a shallow pie plate.

This pie is assembled by overlapping 6-8 layers of butter/oiled filo as the base and using a dinner plate as the rough shape of the middle of the pie. Place the filling in the center of the filo sheets and cut around the outside, leaving 2 inches around the center filling to fold over as the edge, oil and fold layers over the filling edge and toward the center. Once the edges of the pastry are folded over you can loosely layer 6-8 smaller circles of pastry to overlap the edge and cover the center filling, all oiled prior to layering in the. Brush the top generously with the olive oil butter mix and bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling in lightly bubbling. Enjoy the Rich Green Pie!

NOURISHING PEACE TEA

Blend together Equal Parts Dried
Nettles
Lemon Balm
Oat straw
Peppermint
1/2 part licorice root
Use one TBSP of blend to 1 cup of water

As with all herb teas quality is concentrated when using dried herbs, it’s possible to use fresh herbs, it’ll just mean a subtler flavor to your brew. As with all herb Tisanes, make sure you add the hot water to your herbs to steep after boiling, and let steep for a 3-5 minutes before drinking. This nourishing tea is high in calcium, and tonic herbs that bring about peaceful well-being and supportive relief in a warm cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 4 tablespoons butter in an 8-inch square cake pan. Heat in oven until butter melts, about 4 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange the plum slices like rooftop shingles. Start at one end of the pan, then stagger and overlap the slices so the bottom of the pan is covered.

In a large bowl, cream remaining 8 tablespoons butter with sugar and lemon zest. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, salt, and allspice. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk and starting and ending with the flour.

Pour batter into cake pan, and spread evenly over plums. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then invert cake onto wire rack to cool again slightly before serving.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add squash, onion, garlic, curry paste, coriander, cumin, salt and red pepper flakes to skillet. Stir to combine.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until squash is soft, about 15 to 20 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, toast the coconut flakes in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant and golden on the edges. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn. Transfer coconut flakes to a bowl to cool.

Once the squash mixture is done cooking, taste and add a little more Thai red curry paste if it’s not quite flavorful enough for you. Remove the soup from heat and let it cool slightly. Working in batches, transfer the contents pan to a blender (do not fill your blender past the maximum fill line!). Securely fasten the lid and use a kitchen towel to protect your hand from steam escaping from the top of the blender as you purée the mixture until smooth. Transfer puréed soup to a serving bowl and repeat with remaining batches.

Stir the lime juice into the blended soup. Taste and season with additional salt if necessary. Ladle soup into individual bowls. Use a spoon to drizzle coconut milk over each bowl, then lightly swirl the spoon through the topmost layer for a pretty design. Top the soup with toasted coconut flakes and a sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro.

RAD RATATOUILLE RECIPE

This vegetable stew comes from the Provence region of France. Its name comes from the French word touiller, which means “to stir”. Once you’ve made it, you’ll understand why. This is a great way to use up all the vegetables coming out of the garden at this time of the year. My 13-year-old daughter Nola, loves making this for our family dinners!

If you’re starting with raw pine nuts, toast them first. Heat a small skillet on medium high heat. Add the pine nuts. Stir gently as the pine nuts start to brown. When slightly browned, remove from heat and let cool.

Slice the squash into paper-thin slices using a mandolin or other slicer. Set aside in a bowl.

Stack the mint leaves, roll them together lengthwise and slice crosswise to make very thin slivers. Add to squash in bowl.

Combine he oil and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk together. Whisk in the salt and pepper and pour the dressing over the contents of the bowl. Add the pine nuts and toss all together, gently, but thoroughly. Let mixture stand for a t least 10 minutes to soften the squash and develop the flavors.

Transfer salad to serving dish or to four individual salad plates. Garnish with shavings of cheese made with a vegetable peeler and a few springs of fresh mint